Kensington: The State of a Neighborhood

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When welcoming a new child into this world, good parents learn to make decisions that are best for that child, opposed to what is best for the parent. Tuere Rogers of Kensington confronted theses new questions and responsibilities 15 years ago when she welcomed a baby boy to this world.

One of Rogers’ first parental decisions was to move from her neighborhood in North Philadelphia to Kensington. She first moved to the area in 1995, a time when Kensington was still considered to be a hardworking, respectable blue-collar town.

At that time, “I picked the area because I was pregnant and I wanted to raise my son in a nice area, close to my family,” Rogers said. As the years have passed, this small manufacturing driven community has seen businesses leave, families move and crime and drug use rise.

Rogers said she wants to see the responsible members of the community take back their neighborhood. She said she feels this can best be accomplished through residents taking a more active role in the community.

Rogers works in the community human service field and she noted how hard it is to get struggling residents to seek out the aid that is offered by various programs in the neighborhood. “A lot of churches around the neighborhood offer different things for those that are in AA, NA, kids activities and family therapy but they don’t participate, or won’t,” Rogers said.

If you were to take a drive down Front Street underneath the Frankford line, the evidence of how far this community has fallen from its former state is all around you. Taking into account all the obstacles that face the Kensington community today, Rogers said she  feels that the neighborhood can still turn itself around.

There are still numerous churches in the neighborhood that strive to provide as many positive outlets and services they can for the community at large. There are community development organizations such as the New Kensington Community Development Corp. and the Community Women’s Education Project. And the neighborhood has recently erected a skate park for youth, located at the intersection of Huntingdon Street and Trenton Avenue.

These institutions, organizations and youth facilities are a start, but there is still a long way to go in fixing what ails this once thriving community. It will take more residents like Rogers, who have her drive and hope, to help improve their community, as well as a more active role from the city of Philadelphia’s leadership to truly effect a positive change.